


Under My Skin

by EchoesOfOmens



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Frisk (Undertale), Adult Monster Kid - Freeform, Aged-Up Frisk (Undertale), Alphys & Mettaton Friendship (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Chara (Undertale) Has Their Own Body, Cinnamon Roll Papyrus (Undertale), Dark, Dark Comedy, Depressed Sans (Undertale), Depression, Desperation, Established Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Female Frisk (Undertale), Flowerfell?, Flowey Remembers Resets (Undertale), Houseplant Flowey (Undertale), Human/Monster Romance, Kind of inspired by Flowerfell, Magic, Magic Revealed, Male Monster Kid (Undertale), Monster Dust (Undertale), Mt. Ebott (Undertale), Nice Flowey (Undertale), Other, POV Female Character, POV First Person, Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Plot, Possessive Sans (Undertale), Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader is Frisk (Undertale), References to Depression, SAVED Asriel Dreemurr, Sad Papyrus (Undertale), Sans (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Sex, Shipper Alphys (Undertale), Supernatural Elements, The Author Regrets Nothing, Thick Plot, Underfell Sans (Undertale), Undertale Spoilers, Verbal Frisk (Undertale), Weird Plot Shit, Worried Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:55:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28729254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoesOfOmens/pseuds/EchoesOfOmens
Summary: Your name is Frisk.You were only eight years old when you fell into the Underground the first time. That... undertale.... became the subject of your dreams (and nightmares) for many years to come. Twelve years later, you went back to Mt. Ebott to try to see if you had imagined the whole thing, as the psychiatrists all tried to tell you.Then, you fall again.Silly, clumsy you.Nothing is the same down here. You'll find that out soon enough.
Relationships: Alphys & Sans (Undertale), Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Papyrus & Undyne (Undertale), Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	Under My Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Aight so this is a bit of an AU without really being an AU. This is post-pacifist run with a twist that nobody escaped the underground except for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fixed a small inconsistency in the perspective near the bottom.

I didn't know why I was doing this. It was late, and the wind was howling far too crisply for my liking. I shouldn't even be here. For all I knew, it was all the work of a child's imagination--and this would all be for nothing. 

I'd spent most of my life trying to find answers for the faces I saw in my dreams, but I couldn't find anything. No mentions of SOULS or the power of **determination**. But all of it had felt so _real_... I felt like Alice after returning from Wonderland to a world of disbelieving adults. 

I stepped over the grassy steppes and slowly ascended the slope, feeling the icy air sting in my lungs. Everything felt so familiar, here. I recognized that dead tree as I passed it, as well as the boulder near the entrance to--

Near the entrance to the cave. 

I squinted against the wind and darted closer, fallen branches cracking under my feet in my excitement. I turned on my phone flashlight and entered the cave, eyes wide as I recognized every feature from that day so many years ago. 

Memories came flooding back, of all of the times I'd come here to hide and play with chalk on the walls. One drawing that was far enough in to avoid the elements was still here, even though it was faded beyond recognition to most. Of course there were spray-painted obscenities here now, graffiti littering the mouth of the cave as well as the inner walls where the light would have illuminated during the day. A few bottles and cans littered the ground, but otherwise it was the same. Twelve years didn't do much to the structure itself, only the outer shell. 

My eyes fixed on the far wall of the cave. In the feeble light of my phone's light, I could see the symbol I'd known practically my whole life. The image that was scattered throughout the Underground, on Toriel's robes, all throughout the under-world--

I'd been moving forward without my knowledge. When my right foot found nothing beneath it, I was too far forward to stop myself from careening into the darkness. 

A touch of magic rushed past me as I fell, all too familiar from the first time. I knew the sensation of passing through the Barrier when I felt it. Inky darkness consumed me, and I was left falling like Alice for longer than I could keep track of. 

I hit the flowers with much more force than it had when I was a child. 

**"Ow! Fuck!"**

It hurt a _lot_ more this time. My entire body was wracked with pain. I groaned under the weight of it, feeling myself shudder. I hoped I hadn't broken anything.

Blinking rapidly against the pain and the relative darkness, I felt blindly through the flowers for my phone. Luckily, it wasn't broken. I turned it on, happy to find it largely undamaged except for a single crack along the top corner. That case was a good investment. 

Now that I wasn't preoccupied with the pain of hitting a bed of flowers from a height of several stories, I could actually discern more of my surroundings. It was indeed the same area I'd fallen into so long ago, though perhaps a bit more overgrown now. There were a lot more flowers than I remembered, some even of different shades of white and yellow. Glancing above me, I could see the hole I'd fallen through and the glowing rocks that were embedded in the ceiling. They cast a dim light over everything, leaving the world in odd hues that seemed unnatural. 

Wincing, I unsteadily got to my feet and dusted myself off, dropping my phone into my pocket. I saw the door at the far end of the room, and I knew that it could no longer be a dream. Memories flooded my mind as I moved through the Ruins, passing landmarks I'd seen so many times before. Between... the **resets**.

The source of my nightmares for so many years. All of the deaths I'd endured, and that I'd witnessed of others. The carnage that Asriel had left in his wake.

I found myself in front of Toriel's door before I knew it. I'd passed through the Ruins in something of a trance, drifting by the Froggits and Whimsuns without really realizing they were there. Tears sprang to my eyes as I raised my wrist to knock, unsure if I had the strength to face her. 

I never had to make that decision, luckily. I probably would have stood there forever, otherwise. 

Toriel's door opened on its own, and my adoptive mother stared at me with wide eyes as she gazed down at me from her great height. She seemed smaller now that I reached to her nose, but she was just as beautiful as ever--if not a little tired-looking.

"Wh-- _Frisk?"_

I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I nodded, unable to contain my emotions, tilting my head down to wipe my eyes. It was her. She was here. She was safe. 

Warmth enveloped me as she caught me in a tight hug, her paws coming up instinctively to stroke my hair. Her claws very lightly grazed my scalp, a gentle confirmation that this was _real_. I wasn't crazy. 

"Oh, sweetheart... Breathe, honey." She squeezed me once and pulled back to cup my cheek in one paw, her other resting on my shoulder. Recognition dawned on her face and a jumble of questions came pouring out all at once. 

"Wait, how are you here? I thought Asgore sent you back home all those years ago! How are you back?"

I sniffled, slowly getting over the shell shock that my goat mom was, in fact, _not_ a figment of my imagination. 

"I--I came back. I had to find out if I was crazy or not... Guess it wasn't all a dream, after all." I smiled blearily and let Toriel lead me inside, where she dusted off a chair and sat me down. 

"But, _how?"_ She asked. Toriel seemed completely at a loss for words. 

"Same way I came in the first time," I joked. "I fell down a hole in the cave."

Toriel winced at the thought, taking a moment to check me over for injuries. 

"Why are you still in the Ruins, Mom?"

Toriel jolted for a moment, but it didn't last. Her eyes softened and she offered me a sweet smile. 

"Oh, it's not permanent. I'm trying to find a specific blue snail for my cooking. Can't find the right kind in Snowdin for the life of me." 

"Snowdin?" I probed. Toriel blushed. 

"Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know. Asgore and I moved to Snowdin in order to be a little closer to our people. Ever since... Asriel... We've felt awful lonely cooped up in that big, empty place. We purchased a little cottage on the edge of the forest. We're closer to pretty much everything, now..." 

Toriel's face took on a faraway look before she blinked and returned her attention to me. 

"You'd better come back with me at once. There's... a lot you don't know."


End file.
